


You Sat and Stared At My Lips (I Could Already Feel Your Kiss)

by br0ken_hands



Series: Camp Hupperdook: A M9 Adventure [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, The Camp Counselor AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-19 21:29:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17009559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/br0ken_hands/pseuds/br0ken_hands
Summary: Yasha smiles a bit, turning the ring on her hand and leaning back into Beau's touch. "I'm sorry I didn't get to come back the year after."Beau tsks, finishing with Yasha's braids. "No, you were finding the Stormlord and he had called you away, even if I didn't understand back then I do now, you're forgiven.""Still, you waited.""And I would have waited longer for you."Or, Camp AU Take 2





	You Sat and Stared At My Lips (I Could Already Feel Your Kiss)

The wind is gentle beneath Yasha's bare feet as she dangles them over the grassy outcropping above the lakefront. It's just warm enough that the breeze is comforting as it rustles through the trees and over pale skin while Beau's warm body presses against her back as she braids little flowers into Yasha's hair. The sun is still on its way up the sky and Yasha squints as it finally crests the mountains that surround the campground, bathing it in golden light.

 

It's 6 am - way too early for most people to even consider getting up on this lovely summer's day, but Beau and Yasha aren't regular people and this isn't just any regular lovely summer's day.

 

Lulled by Beau's gentle hands working to braid her hair with gentle tugs, Yasha runs her finger across her knuckles, stopping briefly at the ring on her left hand.

 

"Remember our first kiss?"

 

Beau's hands still for a second and Yasha watches out of the corner of her eye as Beau picks another little blue flower out of the grass and disappears out of view, probably to braid it into her hair. A hand sweeps her hair away from her neck and Yasha feels Beau's lips press against the back of her neck before fingers resume their little tugs.

 

"Of course. Why?"

 

Yasha smiles into the sunlight, closing her eyes at the warmth, then shrugging. "Nothing, just reminiscing."

 

\--

 

_Their first kiss had been on the final night of camp before Yasha would age out. As was tradition, the seniors had constructed a little fire in the firepit and had spent the dying hours of the night wrapped in blankets and sharing their favourite memories with each other in hushed voices, before going to the cliff-jump overhang to sit and watch the sunrise for the final time as campers._

 

_For most of them, this would be the last time they'd see each other. Over the next few weeks, some would move across the world to pursue degrees, others would take on jobs and responsibilities that would pull them from their friends, and others still would simply cease contact. Few remained in the sleepy towns surrounding the mountains after high school graduation._

 

_As the hour approached 7, the seniors slowly drifted away to prepare for the final trip home, but Yasha stayed, feet still dangling over the cliff's edge, savouring her final moments._

 

_"Yasha?"_

 

_She turns her head and sees a familiar blue bandana peeking out from behind the bush._

 

_"Yeah?"_

 

_Beau looks left and right for witnesses before sneaking up to sit beside Yasha, before hesitating._

 

_"Um, can I sit?"_

 

_Yasha nods, confused, and shifts over to let Beau sit down beside her._

 

_It's comfortable silence for a little, interspersed with bird chirps and the quiet rustle of leaves in the wind while before Beau speaks up._

 

_"So, it's your last day, eh?"_

 

_"As a camper? Yeah."_

 

_Beau visibly swallows. "Cool."_

 

_“I... I'll be back soon enough- as a counselor... I'd miss this place too much to leave forever."_

 

_Beau nods furiously, lips pressed firmly together like she's trying to keep something inside._

 

_"Why do you ask?"_

 

_There's silence once more, this time for longer. Yasha watches Beau's face go through four or five expressions before settling on nervous, seeing her take her bottom lip between her teeth and worry at it. She opens and closes her mouth a few times but words never make it out._

 

_"Beau-"_

 

_Beau turns to catch her eye and for a second, Yasha thinks Beau's gaze drifts a little lower before- oh._

 

_Beau's pressing her lips against her own, and this is the furthest thing from what Yasha expected this morning, but even more surprising is how she almost leans into Beau's touch, almost wants to kiss back, almost-_

 

_And as quickly as it started, it's over._

 

_"Fuck." Beau curses, pulling herself away, "I don't know- fuck, I'm..." Beau mutters and gets up on two feet, glancing over her shoulders._

 

_"... Beau?"_

 

_"I'm sorry, I don't know what took over me- I'll just... I'm going to go, I'm sorry." Beau turns tail and flees into the bushes and Yasha's left with tingling lips, feeling more confused than when Beau first appeared._

 

_But that's not the kiss Yasha considers their first, it's over too soon for her to reciprocate, no that comes a little while later, but this kiss is Beau's first confession and Yasha's first true acknowledgement of the feelings that have been simmering under their skin for years as campers, never quite seeing the light of day._

 

_No, what Yasha considers their first kiss comes just as bags are being loaded onto the bus for those headed back to the city and tearful goodbyes exchanged. Amid the chaos of it all, Yasha seeks out the blue cloth that sets Beau apart from everyone else and grabs her by the hand, giving just a quick peek behind her to ensure that nobody is following before taking Beau with her, no destination in mind, just away._

 

_Between the time Beau left and now, Yasha had taken the time to think about what had happened. It was no secret to herself that she had taken a liking to the feisty girl. Hell, if this had been another life and she another person she may have asked Beau out herself, but this is not another life and she’s not another person, but she has this chance now and she isn't going to let this slip through her fingers._

 

_"Yasha?"_

_Yasha realises that they've arrived at the cliff-jump and turns to Beau. Beau's eyes are wide with surprise and confusion and Yasha almost wants to laugh at how much her expression mirrors her own from not but five hours ago._

 

_"You were going to say something before you kissed me, what was it?"_

 

_Beau frowns and shakes her head. "No, it's- it's nothing, I fucked it up, let it go."_

 

_Yasha almost wants to let go, but not when what she wants could be so close. "No, tell me, what were you going to say?"_

 

_Beau looks away and shame colours her cheeks. "Nothing... I just... I just wanted to say goodbye.” And then quieter, “In case I never got to see you again."_

 

_"Oh. Um, okay." Yasha’s not sure what she expected, not sure if she expected anything, and steps a little bit into Beau's space. She can see Beau’s eyes widen and she wonders if her eyes are just as wide. "I'm... I'm going to kiss you, is that okay?"_

 

_Beau makes no move to stop her so Yasha takes Beau's face in her hands and leans down, hovering inches away from Beau's lips and waiting for just but a moment and when Beau doesn’t pull away, she presses her lips gently against Beau's._

 

_It takes her a second but Yasha feels arms wrap around her neck and pull her close, kissing back slowly at first, and then with fervour when Beau's brain catches up._

 

_It feels stupid to kiss Beau now, to admit her feelings like this and behave so rashly when she's never been one to act before thinking, but fuck it, Beau's here and kissing her back and she'll be damned if she doesn't take the opportunity._

 

_When they finally pull away from each other, Beau's eyes are wide and her breathing short and ragged. "What- Yasha, I-"_

 

_"Have a good summer, Beau." Yasha mutters, running her thumb over Beau's bottom lip._

 

_A little ways away, they hear the final call for the bus and Beau looks over before turning back to Yasha, grimacing._

 

_"Go, I'll see you around."_

 

_With a little nod, Beau takes off towards the bus, leaving Yasha standing by the cliff with tingling lips for the second time that day._

 

\--

 

 

"You know, I spent the whole rest of the summer and most of the school year thinking about you. There was this girl who asked me out a few times but I could never bring myself to say yes because I couldn't stop thinking about our kiss."

 

Yasha smiles a bit, turning the ring on her hand and leaning back into Beau's touch. "I'm sorry I didn't get to come back the year after."

 

Beau tsks, finishing with Yasha's braids. "No, you were finding the Stormlord and he had called you away, even if I didn't understand back then I do now, you're forgiven."

 

"Still, you waited."

 

"And I would have waited longer for you." Beau whispers, "And... Done." She pulls away to admire her handiwork, before leaning over and pressing a kiss to Yasha's cheek. "You look amazing."

 

Yasha hums happily, pulling Beau up to sit beside her. "Thank you."

 

Beau leans against her shoulder, resting her head and watching the sun continue to rise.

 

Yasha casts a soft glance at Beau out of the corner of her eye. She was so damn lucky.

 

"Do you think Jester needs help restocking the camp store?"

 

"You're just asking because you want to save two bottles of cream soda again for Thursday's date."

 

Beau sighs happily, closing her eyes and curling in close. "Maybe."

 

\--

 

_Ever since the first "date" the campers had put them on, it had become a yearly tradition for Beau and Yasha to bring a little bit of food and two bottles of cream soda to share on the outcropping overlooking the docks every Thursday afternoon._

 

_It started more extravagant - a full picnic basket and flower crowns the kids helped them make, and though over the years it had slowed to nothing more than two cream sodas and a few hours spent in the sun together while kids mill around them trying to catch juicy tidbits of conversation, the tenderness remains._

 

_One year they had run into a small emergency where the camp store had run out of cream soda early Thursday morning and Beau had to plead Jester to make the two-hour drive down to the nearest town to pick up more cream soda. It's the tradition that counts. At the end of the day Beau had her cream soda and Jester had a $50 stuffed in her wallet. Oh, the lengths Beau would go for love._

 

_It had become tradition so much so that the campers would arrive expecting Thursday afternoons to be booked off so that Beau and Yasha could have their cliff-side cream soda date and it was near sacrilegious to ever consider making plans for them that day. Thursdays were Beau and Yasha's day and the kids loved it._

 

_Sometimes there are a few small gifts exchanged between the two of them, but mostly it's just sweet soda cloying sweeter words and the first time Jester hears one of the campers talk about being eager for Beau and Yasha's "date", she almost cries. At this point, she can't imagine camp without it._

 

\--

 

The sun is now high enough in the sky that Yasha's squinting. It's beautiful. The lake water glitters a beautiful shade of blue with the light breeze disturbing little but the topmost layer of water and it begins to feel like the start of summer. She keeps staring as a pair of shades are gently lowered on her face and she sticks her tongue out a bit.

 

"I have my sunglasses." She says, pulling them out of her pocket.

 

"I know, you just look really cute with mine."

 

Yasha turns and presses a kiss to Beau's forehead, slipping her own sunglasses over Beau's eyes. "Now we're a pair."

 

Beau turns her head to meet her lips, kissing her for the first time that morning.

 

“Yash?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

"I can't believe we're married."

 

Yasha grins and kisses her again.

 

\--

 

_Their wedding is a small affair._

 

_It's at the camp. Of course it's at the camp, this is how it started after all. The day after the final Friday of camp, they hastily erect a chapel-style pulpit made of tied together firewood by the cliff-jump overhang and Fjord walks Beau down the makeshift aisle marked by picnic blankets for their guests to sit on._

 

_It's a small gathering - the counselors at camp, their old counselors who had led them through their own years as campers, and a very select group of campers. It's been eight years since they started dating, six since they started as counsellors, and the only kids who remain from their first batch are now in their final year._

 

_Caleb stands at the front in his khaki shorts beside Yasha and officiates the ceremony and Beau marries Yasha in tank tops and jean shorts with camp hair and no makeup to cover post-camp panda eyebags._

 

_It's the most unconventional wedding Beau's ever attended and it's perfect._

 

_It feels like a fairy tale and Beau forgets all her vows and just awkwardly cries happily and then Yasha's crying too and she's pretty sure Jester hasn't stopped crying since Beau proposed three months ago. And then Caleb's telling her she can kiss her bride and Yasha's smiling through the tears and Beau's never tasted any kiss sweeter._

 

_She should have really seen this coming. She's still lost in the feeling of Yasha's lips against hers - she's kissing her wife! - so much so that the cheering, applause, and Caleb's scream are lost to her ears, and it's only until Fjord's body slams into them both and the four of them tumble off the cliff streaking towards the water does Beau have any inkling of what's happening._

 

_The cold water shocks her and Beau feels weightless as she sinks into it, and a big hand grabs at hers and suddenly she's breaking water, sputtering and soaked, and Caleb sounds like a dying cat but Yasha's pulling her in to kiss her again, and again, and again, and if this is her baptism into life with someone who told her "I do", she'd drown in this sea of love._

 

\--

 

Yasha sighs happily, leaning against Beau's shoulder. "I love you."

 

"I love you too." And Yasha doesn't think she's ever heard anything truer.

 

The sun's rays warm her skin and the dew of the grass is beginning to soak through her shorts but this is perfect.

 

Until her watch beeps loudly, shaking the two of them from their quiet paradise.

 

7 am, half an hour until the bus arrives.

 

Yasha gets up with a grunt, brushing the grass off her pants and reaching a hand out to Beau, who takes it and hops up, pushing the glasses up her forehead to rest on the bandana. After all these years, still blue, still beautiful.

 

"You ready for the first day of camp?"

 

Beau squeezes her hand, grin spread wide across her face. "Never been readier."

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry y'all had to wait so long for part two but it HAPPENED, even if it took like, 7 works in between to get to it.  
> Many thanks to Yeen and Brooke for beta-ing, and for SLEEVES for fuelling me with plenty of ideas.
> 
> Is this series done? Maybe, maybe not. I have ideas from Brooke (she's the most amazing and you have her to thank for so much of this) and if they manifest, there will be more, but if not, then as always, thank you for joining me on this ride. It's been a long time coming and I'm glad I get to put this out there. Stay turnt.
> 
> Tumblr: frumpkinspocketdimension  
> Discord: SweetBabyRae#0967
> 
> Title from Strawberries and Cigarettes by Troye Sivan for Love, Simon the movie.


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